Porsche Provides New Features Within Apple CarPlay

While certain other companies (ahem, General Motors, ahem) are busy and inexplicably running away from Apple CarPlay, brands like Porsche are making a concerted effort to further integrate the tool into their vehicles.

It makes sense, since CarPlay – and Android Auto – are not new software but instead extensions of tools with which most of the public is intimately familiar since many tend to shove their faces into their phones 200 times per day. At present, many permutations of these systems force users to pop back out of the device interface and back into the vehicle’s native display just to complete a task like adjusting ventilation settings on-screen.

The fact one could have done the same in a fraction of a second with HVAC physical dials and knobs is a conversation for another post. We digress.

Porsche feels it can do better than the current digital status quo. The updated My Porsche App combines vehicle functions with the CarPlay experience, including the ability to show images of the specific model – which is apparently very important to Porsche owners, don’tcha know. Some core vehicle functions may be adjusted in this manner, including audio settings like sound profiles, changing radio stations, adjusting settings for climate control, and fiddling with the all-important ambient lighting. Note the time stamp on these images from Porsche is 9:11. Well played.

Cynics will opine this is some sort of path to data gathering, and they may have a point. In order to set up the system, one may scan a QR code on the car’s touchscreen so the CarPlay experience can be properly upgraded from its current limitations. Still, this author thinks it is a better plan than the road GM is taking, binning these tools for one of their own design. As an aside, reports are surfacing that dealers are vacillating between alarmed and unimpressed about The General’s efforts so far, saying they don’t know the new system’s name and benefits have yet to be outlined.

[Images: Porsche]

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